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River Don Engine

Industry stubsPreserved stationary steam enginesYorkshire building and structure stubs
River Don Engine Kelham Island Museum
River Don Engine Kelham Island Museum

The River Don Engine is a 1904-built steam engine used for hot rolling steel armour plate. It is a 3-cylinder simple engine of 40 inches (1.0 m) diameter, 48 inches (1.2 m) stroke. At its operating steam pressure of 160psi, it developed 12,000 horsepower (8.9 MW), and was able to reverse from full speed in 2 seconds. The rapid reverse was an essential feature of an engine used for rolling, as delays would result in cooling of the workpiece. This engine was one of four built to the same design, one going overseas to the Japanese Government, one to John Brown's Atlas plant, and the destination of the final one being William Beardmore of Glasgow. It is claimed to be one of the most powerful steam engines ever built, and the most powerful remaining in Europe.The River Don Engine worked for over 50 years at Cammell's mill before being moved first to British Steel's River Don plant (hence its name) and then in 1978 to its present home at the Kelham Island Museum, Sheffield. The engine was last used for commercial work in the 1970s, to roll out reactor shield plates for nuclear power plants. The engine is normally regularly demonstrated at the museum, without load, and under 100 psi of steam pressure. It had to be taken out of service following the floods of July 2007, which extensively damaged the museum and parts of the engine, but was restored to working order in 2008.

Excerpt from the Wikipedia article River Don Engine (License: CC BY-SA 3.0, Authors, Images).

River Don Engine
Alma Street, Sheffield Neepsend

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N 53.389503 ° E -1.472345 °
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Kelham Island Museum

Alma Street
S3 8SA Sheffield, Neepsend
England, United Kingdom
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River Don Engine Kelham Island Museum
River Don Engine Kelham Island Museum
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Kelham Island Quarter
Kelham Island Quarter

Kelham Island is one of Sheffield's eleven designated Quarters. Formerly an industrial area, the island itself was created by the building of a goit, or mill race, fed from the River Don to serve the water wheels powering the workshops of the areas' industrial heyday. The quarter was named after the island, however, the boundaries extend beyond the physical island created by the river and goit. The Quarter is roughly diamond in shape, and is bordered by Shalesmoor and Gibraltar Street to the south-west; Corporation Street to the south-east; Mowbray Street, Harvest Lane and Neepsend Lane to the north-east, and Ball Street and Cornish Street to the north-west. The Cornish Place Works sit just outside this quarter, to the north-west. Green Lane and Alma Street form the main spine roads of the area. The Green Lane Works (Grade II* listed) and the Brooklyn Works (Grade II listed) are both important industrial heritage sites. A great deal of urban regeneration is evident in this area, as residential and social uses are mixed into this former industrial area. The area is home to an industrial museum, the Kelham Island Museum, including the famous River Don Engine. The Chimney House for events and occasions and five pubs: the Kelham Island Tavern (twice CAMRA National Pub of the Year), the Fat Cat, The Wellington, the Ship Inn and The Milestone. It is also host to the Kelham Island Brewery (brewers of Pale Rider, amongst others). The area is the only area in Sheffield with its own dedicated app This Is Kelham that supports independent businesses, regeneration and aids the funding of community projects. The Quarter housed one of Sheffield's last traditional hand-made scissor makers, Ernest Wright and Son Limited, until their relocation to premises closer to the city centre in 2011.

West Bar Quarter